


Were the World Mine

by hawkeye47836



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Angst, Heavy Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-15 01:41:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19600477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawkeye47836/pseuds/hawkeye47836
Summary: There exists a universe wherein, following the events of the Apocalypse-That-Wasn’t, an angel and a demon spent the night together. In that universe, they hatched a plan, chose their faces carefully. There exists a universe wherein, following the events of the Apocalypse-That-Wasn’t, Crowley and Aziraphale outwitted Heaven and Hell, and a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.This is not that universe.





	Were the World Mine

There exists a universe wherein, following the events of the Apocalypse-That-Wasn’t, an angel and a demon spent the night together. In that universe, they hatched a plan, chose their faces carefully. There exists a universe wherein, following the events of the Apocalypse-That-Wasn’t, Crowley and Aziraphale outwitted Heaven and Hell, and a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.  
  
This is not that universe.  
  
In this universe, there was precious little time. The apocalypse had been averted, and as they left Tadfield Air Base, two man-shaped beings who’d been friends for longer than anyone alive could remember allowed themselves to hope. They allowed themselves a moment to breathe. They knew there would be consequences, but for now, they allowed themselves to walk side-by-side (closer, perhaps, than could be considered entirely platonic) towards a future.  
It was a future that existed, painfully close, in any number of universes just out of arm's reach. It was not, however, a future that existed in this universe - not for these two.  
The angel and the demon were not accosted violently. They were not chased or punched or beaten with clubs. The moment that their future disappeared from the realm of possibility was unremarkable. It went like this:  
In front of the demon, an Archangel. In front of the angel, the Prince of Hell. Two snaps, in unison, and two grim faces. No time for twin looks of surprise. The angel and the demon lost consciousness, reaching toward one another.

“Wake up, Crowley. We’re only waiting on you.” The voice is cold. The floor is cold. The light, when Crowley opens his eyes, is cold. Heaven is cold; he’d almost forgotten. He’d been burning in Hell for so long, now.

As Crowley’s eyes adjusted to the blinding light, his heart sank. Gabriel and Beezlebub stood at the front of the room, each a jarring sight in their own right and only more so when juxtaposed so violently with their otherworldly counterpart. Is this, Crowley thought dimly, how an angel and a demon should look when standing side by side? The thought stung.

Another angel knelt by his side, stone-faced and still. Aziraphale. Crowley’s heart sank further at the sudden, swift, inescapable knowledge of what was to come: the apocalypse may have been averted, but there would be consequences. There would be dire consequences, indeed.

“Crowley. Aziraphale. You’ve committed treason - in the eyes of Heaven, Hell, and the Lord Herself, you have trespassed.” Crowley had thought that seeing the Archangel Gabriel and the Prince of Hell standing side-by-side was jarring. He had been wholly unprepared for the sickening wrongness of their voices, joined in unison, proclaiming judgement together. “There is but one thing left to do. You can-  
-be redeemed, Aziraphale-  
-clean up your mess, Crowley-  
-if you do us one small favor.” Here, the chorus became disjointed, and the uneasy duo at the front of the room glanced at one another as if for the first time. They approached the wayward souls crouched before them and, as Gabriel knelt to speak with Aziraphale, Beezlebub crouched before Crowley and sneered.

“You’ve always been a disgrace, haven’t you? From the very Beginning.” Crowley waited, oddly calm, staring straight ahead. “And now I find out that all this time, you’ve fancied yourself some big damn hero, defying Heaven and Hell and the Almighty Herself - for what? Because you’re a coward, too scared to fight? Because you love humanity oh so much? No,” Beezlebub went on, “I reckon it’s something else. Someone else. I reckon you fell in love with that useless Principality, and now you just can’t bear the thought of any harm coming to his pretty, empty little head.” The Prince of Hell laughed. It was not a kind sound. “It doesn’t have to be like this, Crowley. You’re a serpent, a demon, and above all, a coward. I know you don’t want it to end here; you’d do anything to keep that Archangel over there from smiting you into oblivion, isn’t that right? Well, you’re in luck. All you have to do, you pitiful worm, is your job.” Crowley didn’t blink. He couldn’t breathe. Everything seemed suddenly very far away. “Kill the angel, Crowley. Kill the angel or die.”

Prince and Archangel rose as one, giving Crowley and Aziraphale space. One glance at his angel’s face told Crowley everything he needed to know. They’d been given the same orders. Heaven and Hell were mirrors, after all.

There are worlds filled with life - with flora and fauna and all of the drama and intrigue that come along with that. There are vast, wide worlds, impossible worlds, worlds contained entirely within the minds of children; there are worlds that were saved from an Apocalypse-That-Wasn’t, and worlds wherein an angel and a demon may have had a life together.

There are also small, private worlds, such as the one that Crowley thought he could see now, as he stood and faced Aziraphale. Worlds only 6000 years old, with only two inhabitants. Worlds he would gladly give everything to save, had he only the time.

The apocalypse never happened, but a world did end. It went something like this:  
An angel and a demon took one, two, three tentative steps toward one another. They had been promised redemption, salvation, in return for the impossible. They had been ordered to do one another grievous harm - to fight to the death.

They embraced.

Around them, their world burned.


End file.
